Sure. Why Not?

Peopleeeeeeeee

reblog this is you love the curse workers

I NEED TO FIND YOOOU.

Well that’s adorable.

World Building Tips:  Empires and Power Structures

World building is important in any setting. There are places, such as fantasy literature where it can become the difference between a believable world and an unbelievable one. Suspension of disbelief is often a critical part to stories. 

Many fantasy books take place during times of war, or revolution or even a fall of a corrupt empire.  I love reading these sorts of stories, as many people do.  Power structures can be complex.  They can be used to create tension and drama between characters - take for instance the hero versus the corrupt government troupe in fiction such as The Hunger Games, Harry Potter or even more traditional fantasies such as Tigana ( by Guy Gavriel Kay) or The Wheel of Time series (by Robert Jordan).   As a reader it can be compelling to follow these stories.  For writers though, it can seem daunting to go into the details of shaping a believable power structure.  Here are some basic tips for creating one.  

There are four crucial factors to any power structure.  These are as follows:

1. Military - this includes the size of the army, the types of technology used (guns or swords? navy or land army?), the basic structure of the army (is it highly regimented like the Romans? What are the different groups within the army? How are they divided - by technology, skills or social status?). Another important question here is why has the military developed in this way? The Roman military, for example, grew out of competition with other Italian states. The opposition is equally important here - who were/are they within your story? Apply the above questions just as much to them, because empires and other structures are influenced by the world around them. The military can be the reason an empire begins in the first place.  The military should also play a role in sustaining the power structure/empire.  It doesn’t have to be the strongest factor by any means.  It may even become the downfall of the structure in the end.

2. Economy - How is your power structure or empire funded? Does this change over time? Does your empire take part in internal or external trade? Is trade important to the running of the empire? Resources such as crops, fertile land or people are also a part of this and influences the larger actions (such as conquest) your structure takes towards other countries. Trade can be a form of control and influence as well, even outside of the structure’s territory. In terms of story, a lot of decisions that are made involve trade or economic reasons - no one wants to get on the wrong side of someone who controls valuable resources or trade with other entities. The British Empire was based mainly on trade and this insured a global influence even as it declined in actual power.

3. Administration: The system of government and the way it manages itself is important to know. Is it a traditional monarchy or a democracy? How is leadership decided? How is power delegated throughout the larger administration? Hierarchy? One person can’t do or know everything. In terms of empire and conquest this is equally important. Does the empire recruit the local elites from conquered areas to administer to the general public, like the Romans? If your story is set in the outskirts of your empire, this could effect the outcome of the story - local elites might enjoy the power they have gained through an alliance with the larger empire and thus be unwilling to revolt against it. What other ways does your power structure control its territory? Does it use culture, or a set language to spread out into new territory? What kind of empire is your empire? Is it land based (only conquering territories linked by land) or maritime (navy focused with overseas territory)?

4. Culture: How does your power structure interact with its subjects? Even in a small area, different ethnic groups exist, so what unites all of them together? Are they all united, or is there groups of people the power structure leaves out? Have they always been left out deliberately or have these groups formed over time?How does the the government and the people from inside the empire view outsiders and their culture? Does this influence your story or characters? Do negative stereotypes or different language create a barrier between your character and others? In newly conquered areas is the empire’s language, laws and social ideals endorsed to locals or is it forced upon them? Is religion important to how the empire works or interacts? For example, before war do the gods need to show approval for the empire’s commanders? What about clashes of religion with other areas? Where do cultures intersect? Is your empire influenced by an older power or a hard past? What is seen as integral to your structure’s culture - art, literature, music etc? Are allies connected with your structure through culture, a shared distant history?

Most power structures rely on all of these factors - but none are ever equal in importance. Your government will identify one or two of these areas as important and focus on them. This can impact how the structure comes together and eventually falls apart - the greatest strength becomes a weakness, or something is overlooked until it is too late.

This is a long post - so I’m going to leave it here for now. If you guys have any questions, feel free to use the Ask feature to contact me.

hey guys !! this is my first masterpost hahaha exciting so exams are coming up soon (for me), aka those early may dates.. here is just a bunch of resources that i found !!

study tips 101

i have terrible memory! how do i study? by @estudying

conquering procrastination by @studybudyblr​

how to stay focused, motivated, and on track by @briellestudies​

how to study for math by @enfpfocustudyblr​ (making a math masterpost soon)

focus and motivation by @katsdesk​

study methods by @heystudy​

“the oh god it’s the night before the exam” by @renaistudying​

another test is tomorrow by @getstudyblr​

stress help by @highschoolering​

101 study tips by @study-early​

6 things people don’t tell you about studying by @behindonstudying​

ap testing tips by @katsdesk​

3 steps in studying by @milkystudies​

studying from ..

how to study from textbooks by @strive-for-da-best

four steps to reading textbooks by @kimberlystudies

lecture notes by @strive-for-da-best

revision notes by @raistudy

how to: flashcards by @pseudocodead

more flashcards by @studydiaryofamedstudent

how do i study ?? / being organized

study schedule by @mindofamedstudent

pomodoro printable by @cmpsbls

printables masterpost by @studie-s

vocab and formulas printables by @studeyh

how to maintain good notes by @skeletonstudy

typing notes by @study-well

colorcoding by @kimberlystudies

highlighting by @studygene

highlighting pt 2 by @ayetstudies

how to use sticky notes by @etudiance

organized study spaces by @etudiance

sketches for notes by @staedtlers-and-stabilos

how to revise by @youaretheairinmyalveoli​

if any of these links are broken, please message me so i can update it. hope you find these helpful !! 

- xoxo j

Keep reading

♥️♣️♥️♣️

Sci-Fantasy and Technomancy

Creating a world where magic and technology co-exist

Mixing science fiction and magic can be tricky; if everyone in the world is capable of teleporting anywhere at anytime, it probably won’t make much sense for people to own cars, for example. Blending these two forces leads to countless exciting possibilities, but it can also end up creating some inconsistencies that your audience will pick up on if you don’t think things through well.

I have several tips and things you should think about if you want to build a world that mixes sci-fi and fantasy. Ultimately how detailed you get with it is up to you; maybe you want to plot out ever single tiny aspect of how your world works, or maybe you just want to have robot dragons and to hell with whoever disagrees! It’s a story of your making; if you and your audience are having fun with it, that’s what I consider most important.

Either way, here’s some things to think about!

- Of course, it helps to start off with the usual integral factors that tend to define societies; things like geography, language, religion, laws, agriculture, philosophy, etc. Before you even start throwing magic/tech into the mix, what does your world look like? What does it sound like? What does it taste like??

- How does magic work in your world? Is it a gift only available to a select few, or can pretty much any Average Joe summon a fireball? Are all mages Clerics (with magic derived from a powerful entity), Wizards (with magic learned from studying), Sorcerers (with magic just as an innate trait), or a mixture of these (and other?) things? 

- How does technology (generally) work in your world? How widely available is it? How well is it understood? What level is it at; are there nanobots in everyone’s bloodstreams, or is a bronze sword considered “high technology”? 

- How well do magic and technology (generally) mix in your world? Are they both just two different tools for solving problems, or opposed forces? Can one be used to study the other? Can someone be an expert on both things? What problems have been solved (and created) from blending the two?

- Are either things taboo? How much social friction do either things cause? Is the use of one meant to be secret or forbidden? Why?

- Are tech-favoring people/societies generally on equal footing with magic-favoring ones? They don’t have to be! The world being skewed in one side’s favor could be a great source of conflict! 

- What can only be done with magic? What can only be done with technology? Consider the limitations of both forces in the world. Does one force typically work better in some or most ways than the other? What things simply can’t be replicated by one side? 

- Consider how advanced each side is. What methods of communication, transportation, education, fuel consumption, medical care, etc are available to magic-favoring societies and which ones are available to tech-favoring societies? One side may not be exclusively better than the other; a tech-favoring society might have much faster land transportation in the form of huge cars, but a magic-favoring one might be able to magically tame huge creatures that can walk on walls and reach places tech can’t easily get to. 

- (When it can,) how does magic solve the same problems as tech and vice versa? A magical stone of far-speech can fill the magic-equivalent role of a phone, for example. A manufactured chemical packet could function like a certain spell. Of course, if one side’s method is so ubiquitous and accessible, it’s more likely that all people’s will favor it. 

- On the other hand, the different perspectives will likely produce entirely different problems and methods of solving them. Beyond one side being unable to replicate certain things from another, they may not want to. Mages may have no interest in creating an internet analogue they instead have access to some great collective unconscious tech-favoring people can’t access. How might one describe these things to the other? This is where the real creative world-building comes in; not every problem should be solved by just having an equally viable magic or tech version of it. Different cultures will value things differently, and exploring that leads to lots of creative worldbuilding and conflict!

- Consider what divisions might exist within societies. There are always subdivisions within groups; not all mages are as powerful, knowledgeable, or experienced as one another. Some subgroups may think themselves superior in some way, and/or might look down upon others within their own circle for all kinds of reasons. No group is a hivemind (unless they literally are); groups are made up individuals! 

- Lastly (but possibly most importantly), DON’T GET TOO CAUGHT UP WITH HOW COOL YOUR WORLD IS! Consider exactly what information is relevant to the audience and what interesting ways you can show/explain it. Remember that the focus should generally remain on the characters; there’s nothing wrong with having lots of extra world-building details, but they can bog down the story in minutia if you get too off track! You can always explore and explain deeper lore in side material!

Cute.

Slytherin: Come on Huff, I wasn't that drunk.

Hufflepuff: You tried to color my face with a highlighter because you said I was important.

Slytherin: That's because you are.

hey i'm creating a race of fairies and since they generally have small builds and metal such as iron cold steel are deadly to them what are some good materials to use for the fairies to craft their weapons, i considered gems but doing some research i realized substance like diamonds and crystal are utterly impractical even for the fairies.

Well, fairies are magic. If a fairy wanted to wield a diamond sword, they could and no audience would question it. Magic is the solution to a lot of problems. The weakness of a weapon forged with magic is, of course, a steel blade but that only matters if they’re encountering humans wielding steel on the regular. Fairies can do whatever they want and dance merrily on the graves of scientists the world over, so don’t let that stop you.

Blades of pure light.

Blades of diamond.

Blades from plants.

Fairies wielding magma blades or swords forged from stardust.

A sword of glass containing the beating heart and heat of the sun.

Futuristic fairies who behave like aliens in Iron Man style power armor formed from plastics/polymers wielding lightsabers and firing bolts of plasma.

They’re fairies. Sky’s the limit here. Except, it’s not because then we catapult ourselves out into space. Go however far your imagination takes you.

Look to myth for your solutions, especially the Celtic Sidhe. Unless you’re dealing with a modern setting (and even if you are) mythology has already developed solutions. It’s a great place to start your search.

However, here are some things I’ll point out:

Cold Iron/Cold Steel are a reference to a specific forging technique rather than a type of metal, though in folklore it can just mean steel swords. Still, this will open up your options some.

Cold Iron for fairies dates back to when iron forging was still mostly new, or less common. There’s certainly lore out there with mythological fairies fighting warriors wielding iron blades, but were unbeatable until new forging techniques were developed.

Ask yourself: is it the forging technique which makes these swords dangerous to your fairies or is it the metal itself? In which case, then you can cut out “cold” as it’s just steel.

Here’s the Wikipedia article about iron in folklore. It may help you some in your search.

If you want to write Urban Fantasy with fairies then I’d go with the forging process rather steel itself. The reason is that they couldn’t go anywhere. At least, not places like the US or Europe or anywhere there’s a high steel content in the buildings, cars, and sewer systems. Even with a shift to polymers too much of the major metropolitan centers in the developed world are built on steel bones. Science fiction fairies re-emerging in the future where all metals are polymers has more potential.

Honestly, any army from a period using steel or iron weapons could curb stomp fairies if they’re allergic to the metal. Using the forging process moves all to some and then down to almost none, making way for the future fairyocalypse of 2018.

-Michi

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I know that starting bujo can be a daunting process, speaking from personal experience. As such, I have compiled a list of resources down below to help beginners to start bujo.

Guide 

Starting a bullet journal

A guide to bullet journal

Guide to bullet journal

Starting a bullet journal

Bullet journal

How I bullet journal

Notebooks brand 

Essentials A5 grid journal (example)

Rhodia webnotebook (example)

Scribbles that matter pro dotted a5 journal

Moleskine large hardcover journal (example)

Moleskine classic journal (example)

Moleskine large square ruled (example)

Leuchtturm1917 dotted a5

Bujo spread ideas

Bujo spread ideas

Bujo spread ideas

Bujo ideas masterpost by @optomstudies

Its ok if you are not an artistic studyblr by @tiyastudies

Bullet journal ideas

Youtube videos 

How to bullet journal

Bullet journal setup 2018

Bullet journal tips for beginners

Bullet journal flip-through and tips and tricks

How I use bullet journal (updated version)

Plan with me 2018 setup

Hello, 2018!//january bujo pwm

My 2017 flip-through

My 2017 bujo flip-through

2017 bujo flip-through

Printables 

Space tapes

Fall stickers and vocabulary worksheets

Christmas tapes

Super random sticker sheet

Inspirational spreads 

Overview

Daily spread

Weekly spread

Weekly spread

Weekly spread

Weekly spread

Weekly spread

Weekly spread

Weekly spread

Weekly spread

Weekly spread

Weekly spread

Weekly spread

Weekly spread

Weekly spread

Weekly spread

Monthly spread

Monthly spread

Monthly spread

Monthly spread

Monthly spread

Yearly spread

Other spreads 

Favourite films

Moodboard

Clothing spread

Gratitude spread

School year checklist

Places to travel

1 sentence a day

Reflection and looking forward

Year in pixels

Doodle ideas

Highlights

Last replaced

Videos, habits and finance tracker

Things that make me happy and dreams

Room tidying

Movie journal

Lookbook page

Bucketlist

Travel journal spread

Summer daze (good things)

How to make your bujo aesthetic?

How to banner by @studypetals

Easy doodles

Header ideas

Gradient titles effect tutorial

Faves

@studyrose @studywithinspo @studyquill @stillstudies @tbhstudying @journalsanctuary @crescentwords @doestudies @soymilkstudie @kaylareads @studylustre @hannybstudies @peachystudy @minijournals @somestudy @oikawastudies @studeying @lentilstudies @tomi-letters @emmastudies @smoinerd @mochi-studies @focusign @bluelahe @mildlineurs @cayliestudies @thearialligraphyproject @lycheestudy @hwangmyeons @quadrtics

Other masterposts made by me

Printables

Self care

College

Ace your exams

Apps for students

Note taking

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Icon credit to @jasperstudies